In an earthquake, the ground generally has two motions, horizontal displacement and vertical displacement. Earthquakes produce seismic waves or ripples in the earth's crust. The horizontal displacement of such a ripple or wave causes a bending action on a building structure, particularly on a building with footings extending below the surface. The vertical displacement can cause crushing action on a building structure, sometimes referred to as barrelling of the support pillars. The vibration from the wave can topple or collapse tall buildings, or at the very least shake the buildings to cause internal damage. Various schemes have been suggested to dampen out the forces of seismic waves It has been known for instance that buildings may be mounted on a series of spherical balls. Such an arrangement clearly assists in dampening out horizontal displacement forces, but not vertical forces. A number of schemes involving springs have been suggested to take into account vertical displacement, but springs have not proven satisfactory, generally because of the size and weight of a structure. Furthermore systems have not been developed to dampen the movement of spring action, and springs by themselves may increase the damage rather than reduce it. Furthermore, for heavy structures the size of the springs must be either enormous or else have little effect.